Did anyone see this coming? I for one was more worried about this game than I have been worried in a long time. Well, atleast since Coach Meyer has been in Columbus! Let’s take a look at what tBBC staff thought of our weekly awards. Offensive tOSU Offensive MVP MDotySr – Cardale, EZE and Devin share it […]

Did anyone see this coming? I for one was more worried about this game than I have been worried in a long time. Well, atleast since Coach Meyer has been in Columbus! Let’s take a look at what tBBC staff thought of our weekly awards.

Offensive

tOSU Offensive MVP

Cardale Jones and Urban Meyer

MDotySr – Cardale, EZE and Devin share it this week (although it was tough not picking the Oline as a whole).

Ken – Cardale Jones; not a bad debut for the lad

Patrick – Cardale Jones

Mali – EzE. Quiet excellence

Scott – Cardale Freakin Jones

WVa – Cardale “Howitzer” Jones

Joe D. – Devin Smith. If it weren’t for his big plays, Cardale might not of been so comfortable in the pocket.

tOSU O-line MVP

MDotySr – Jacoby Boren

Ken – All of them. They were very solid as a unit, run & pass blocking were superb.

Patrick – The entire line!!!

Mali – Boren

Scott – whole unit

WVa – Billy Price got dinged up and came back for more, solid day for entire unit against the “best” defense in the B1G.

Joe D. – Hard not to award the whole line for their performance. What a display of run and pass blocking.

tOSU Offensive Top Play

Interfered with on each of his TD’s never mattered, no reason to add insult to injury for Whiskey

MDotySr – The 39 yard touchdown pass from Cardale to Devin.

Ken – I agree with Scott, below..

Patrick – 1st TD. Set the tone

Mali -EzE’s 81 yard score

Scott – cardale’s first TD pass. Set the tone.

WVa – Cardales first long TD to devin Smith, surprised everybody and was an amazing catch by Smith while being interfered with.

Joe D. — Cardale’s pass to Smith that led to six in the first might of set the tone, but it was Ezekiel Elliot’s 81 yard TD run later in the first that cemented it.

tOSU Offensive Unsung

MDotySr – Both Jeff Heuerman and Nick Vannett for their unselfish play and outstanding blocking.

Joe D. – Bennett played at another level on Saturday and proved it’s not just Joey Bosa up front. This is a defensive line that should not be reckoned with.

Patrick – Doran Grant

Mali – Bennett. Represented 53 well

Scott – Joey Bosa.

WVa – This is a tie for me and partly because I don’t think Curtis Grant has been mentioned all year. He and Darron Lee were amazing in helping shut down Gordon. They did something that no team was able to do all year.

tOSU D-line MVP

MDotySr – The entire “unit”! They played “Lights Out”! Best game of the year in the biggest game of the year!

Ken – I agree with Mike. They all played solid, fundamental ball, The unit’s best game of the year

Mali – All 8 brothers

Scott – Michael Bennett

WVa – Everybody did what they needed to do Saturday night and that was shut down Gordon.

Headed down the streetch and within striking distance of a playoff spot, the Buckeyes did themselves some good by defeating the Gophers in one of the coldest games in college football in fifty years. The struggle was adjusting to the cold for some, but the hot nature of the level that some of them play […]

Headed down the streetch and within striking distance of a playoff spot, the Buckeyes did themselves some good by defeating the Gophers in one of the coldest games in college football in fifty years. The struggle was adjusting to the cold for some, but the hot nature of the level that some of them play at kept them cozy for the day. Let’s see what the gang has to say about the best of the best in Ohio State football!

Offensive

tOSU Offensive MVP

I am thinking that JTB needs something signature move after a big play, nahhh he’s too humble for that

Mali – JT Barrett. Again.

MDotySr – JT Barrett

Patrick – JT Barrett

Ken – JT Barrett

Scott – JT Barrett

WVa – Who would have thought that we would be discussing JT Barrett as a front runner for the B1G Offensive POTY at this point in the season three months ago. Maybe about 1% of Buckeye Nation had an inkling he would be going toe to toe with Melvin Gordon for the honors, and no one had him in the Heisman race, period. What he did Saturday in breaking the single game rushing mark, third longest TD ever in Ohio State history(longest for a QB) and setting the new bar for TD’s in a season at 38? Simply Wow! Grab some popcorn, some more records falling this Saturday.

tOSU O-line MVP

Mali – Hmmmm… Jacoby Boren. Continues to play at a high level, in spite of the doubters

MDotySr – The Whole Unit!!!

Patrick – Jacoby Boren

Ken – no one stuck out, they all must have been OK

Scott – Jacoby Boren

WVa – I have been a Boren family fan since the eldest left TTUN and came here which set off a chain reaction of brothers following suit. There’s a reason the two older brothers said Jacoby has always played with more of an edge than them, he has always had to put up with being called smallish for a center. I think he is more than making up for it in the way he’s destroying nose guards and DT’s.

tOSU Offensive Top Play

JT JT JT . . , pretty sure this chant is coming

Mali – I’m going with the WR screen for Ohio State’s last TD. Regained momentum, and made me happy to see a screen work at Ohio State

MDotySr – JT’s big run for the initial TD!

Patrick – screen to Evan Spencer

Ken – Barrett’s 86 yard TD run to get the scoring started

Scott – JT calls his own number for 86

WVa – Sometimes, you just know as soon as a play starts that it’s going to the house. Beanie against TTUN, Eddie against ND, and Ginn against MSU the year he scored in multiple ways. I just knew that JT was taking an epic trip to the end zone on Saturday. He had the fastest of the Gopher secondary chasing him so I am sure that’s why he was smoking down the field.

MDotySr – EZE but hard to say Unsung but does so many things very well!!!

Patrick – Evan Spencer

Ken – Ezekiel Elliott’ he had a “quiet” 91 yards rushing and threw some nice blocks for JT.

Scott – Jalin Marshall

WVa – I am jumping on the Scott bandwagon here. Jalin Marshall has had happen to him that happend to JT Barrett. He was moving along enjoying his role on the team with very little pressure to do more than just perform and gain some yardage, make big plays. Now he has replaced Dontre Wilson pretty much full time and the pressure hit just a little bit on Saturday. He still showed what he is capable of and made up for his mistakes.

Defensive

I’m sorry I can’t shrug right now, My arms are frozen to him

tOSU Defensive MVP

Mali – Vonn Bell- Play after play when they were needed

MDotySr – Doran Grant, making plays and the big INT!

Patrick – Joey Bosa

Ken – Adolphus Washington; led the team in tackles. He was solid

Scott – Joey Bosa

WVa – Is there anyone taking anonymity in stride more than Adolphus Washington? Every Saturday teams game plan for Bennett and Bosa and all Washington does is perform his duties at a high level. The plays he is making as teams run more at him is becoming pretty consistent. There were some issues against the Gophers run game but Washington wasn’t the problem.

tOSU D-line MVP

Mali – Bosa was disruptive, but Bennett did a lion’s share of the work when needed to stop the Gophers’ running game

MDotySr – Joey Bosa……ALL “FREAKING” AMERICAN!!!

Patrick – Joey Bosa

Ken – Bosa had a much better game this week; even recorded 1.5 sacks

Scott – Joey Bosa

WVa – Joey Bosa can only be slowed, never stopped. He showed America Saturday what happens if you let off the gas against him. Sparty had the right plan even with moving Bosa around you usually saw Conklin pull and go find him and really, unless you are a RB with Penn State, Bosa is going to try and beat you by going around you. Redirecting his path seems to be the best defense against him and even though the Gophers tried, his redirected path was to the inside and into the path of oncoming traffic. I guess Mr. Bosa is a fast learner.

Lock down corner had a nice pick six that got called back for DPI, not a good call

tOSU Defensive Top Play

Mali – Doran Grant’s Pick Six. And that’s what it was… no penalty.

MDotySr – Doran Grant Int!!!

Patrick – Doran Grant int

Ken – Vonn Bell’s 4th quarter interception, it set up the short field for the winning TD

Scott – Doran Grant int

WVa – I have not been bashfull about how big a fan I am of Doran Grant. Then again, I have seen his talent first hand in the playoffs against Mooney his senior year. I was the back judge on that game and had to chase him more than one time. His pick six was something he didn’t do that night but he did have an INT. His pick six Saturday was a good showing of the type of speed he has and maybe they should get him the ball on punt returns.

tOSU Defensive Unsung

Mali – Adolphus Washington. Not outstanding on the scoresheet, but did his work nontheless.

WVa – Curtis Grant has been as solid as anyone inside and more times than not he is the first to get blocked at the second level. McMillan is getting more playing time because of the type of player he is, not because of the player Grant isn’t. CG is doing a great job and should get credit for it.

Odds and Ends

tOSU Special Teams MVP

Mali – Kerry Coombs. No sleeves, no problems

MDotySr – Nuernberger

Patrick – just for Mali, the long snapper

Ken – no one

Scott – Kerry Coombs. Stud.

WVa – I am wondering if anyone is actually watching kick-offs and punts? Kyle Clinton deserves some time as a LB after what he did to the returner on Saturday.

WVa – I was on the fence just a little bit with this topic this past week. What I have come up with is our run defense, and it needs to get fixed fast! Michael Bennett expressed disdain for how poorly they played and that it’s not how they want to play.

Gopher MVP

Cobb had himself his own epic pic moment on Saturday on 3rd and long TD run

Mali – Cobb. Man, I’m glad he’s a senior.

MDotySr – Cobb was a beast!

Patrick – Cobb

Ken – David Cobb

Scott – Carl Spackler

WVa – The aforementioned run game made Cobb look really good. No, Cobb made himself look really good against the Buckeyes on Saturday. He will be running on Sundays and like Mali, I too am happy he is a senior.

B1G Coach MVP

Mali – Wisconsin’s Anderson. Sure, it’s not hard to say “Give it to Gordon”… but he did it, and emphatically leveraged the Western Division’s hierarchy.

MDotySr – Pat Fitzgerald for beating ND!

Patrick – Jerry Kill

Ken – Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald

Scott – Jerry Kill

WVa – There’s very few coaches that get everything out of their players. Granted, the Gophers should have been up for Saturdays game, it was a chance for them to show they belonged and I for one agree they do. The weather was a great equalizer, but Jerry Kill is an even better one. With all that he has been through over the past few years, those players will run through a frozen block wall for him. (See my Rumblin’ on Friday for more on Kill)

On a weekly basis now for several weeks we have all been coming together to put in our thoughts on the awards for Ohio State football. It’s mostly been the JT Barrett and Joey Bosa show and has been a lot of fun. I look forward to carrying it on for basketball too, so look […]

On a weekly basis now for several weeks we have all been coming together to put in our thoughts on the awards for Ohio State football. It’s mostly been the JT Barrett and Joey Bosa show and has been a lot of fun. I look forward to carrying it on for basketball too, so look for that in the weeks to come.

The Buckeyes went into East Lansing last week with a chip on their shoulder, and I for one am hoping that they keep it there. Being ranked eighth in the latest CFP rankings is almost a perfect spot to be, but it puts a bigger target on their back for their remaining four opponents if they should happen to get to the B1G title game.

Offensive

tOSU Offensive MVP

#16 is rewriting the record books and could care less, he just wants to win

Mali- JT Barrett

Ken – JT Barrett

Joe – J.T. Barrett was at it again against Michigan State. You have to think he is putting in a bid at least for B1G Offensive player of the year. The way he has grasped the Ohio State offense is rather impressive.

PJ – JT Barrett

WVa – JT, JT, JT has done it again. The way out in front leader of this award. Is there anything that this kid cannot do? Whats amazing about his performance on Saturday night is he make it look easy. Cool under pressure this time and the teams that are trying to replicate VaTech are only making him better. Hands down best performance in the B1G this season, hope it continues.

tOSU O-line MVP

Mali- Elflien: Lots of great blocks on fold/pull/lead plays

Ken – Darryl Baldwin

Joe – The Whole line has to get credit. They might of got to Third down on offense 14 times, but they converted 10 of those fourteen third downs.

PJ – Billy Price

WVa – I have to go with the entire line on this one. Save for a couple false starts, which is understandable in that atmosphere, the unit led the charge and helped produce one of the best offensive outputs we may ever see in one game against a very good defense.

tOSU Offensive Top Play

Mali- 3 and 23, drop the biscuit in the basket

Ken – 79 yarder to Michael Thomas

Joe – The bomb from J.T. Barrett to Devin Smith at the end of the first half.

PJ – Michael Thomas Slant

WVa – I had really struggled with a choice here until I saw Mali’s choice. The throw that JT had to make just to put the football where it needed to be was remarkable. Is there a QB playing at the level that Barrett is right now? The Heisman voters should be looking at this kid hard because in the wak of losing Braxton to a shoulder injury, he is the team’s MVP and may be the best in the country right now!

tOSU Offensive Unsung

Mali- Curtis Samuel. Blocking son of a gun

Ken – Heuerman’s blocking on QB draws/counters

Joe – Ezekiel Elliot is a beast and still isn’t getting the credit that he deserves nationally. Elliot averaged nearly 7 yards per carry on Saturday. Marshawn Lynch better move over, I hear there is a new Beast Mode in town

PJ – Evan Spencer

WVa – I am staying with the three that keep making things happen blocking on the perimters each week and am adding Curtis Samuel. A crushing block on the edge sprung more than a couple plays. Each week Heuerman, Elliott, and Spencer are stars in the blocking scheme.

Defensive

tOSU Defensive MVP

This was how well Lippett was covered by Doran Grant, everytime he touched the ball

WVa – Doran Grant has been sending a message all season to not go to sleep on him. Lippett didn’t have a chance Saturday night against arguably the best cover corner in the B1G and maybe one of the best in the country right now. Nobody is throwing the ball his way and when they do, the WR is paying for it.

tOSU D-line MVP

Mali- Michael Bennett. Disruptive all game

Ken – Michael Bennett, solid against run and pass. A great game

Joe – I’m going with Bennett as well. He was a monster up front for the Buckeyes

PJ – Michael Bennett

WVa – Easy choice in Bennett this week. It’s not as if he has been quiet all season. Most times he is taking on two blockers and being cut or teams have simply been running away from him. Saturday nights poison was to double him and Bosa and when they didn’t put two on Bennett, the Spartans paid for it.

tOSU Defensive Top Play

Great reaction to the ball and #2 in command of the secondary, played through injury

Mali- 4th and 5, Eli Apple with the stop on the reverse

Ken – Stop of Nick Hill on 4th and 5 at end of 3rd quarter

Joe – Getting the stop on 4th down near the end of the 3rd quarter.

PJ – Second quarter. Kept Sparty off the board

WVa- As stifling as Grant has been in coverage, Apple has been just as important in run support. I think this is the huge difference in the secondary this season, Grant shuts down their #1 and it allows Eli to o what he needs to do. Sniff out the RB and kick his tail, even playing through a couple holds was great stuff. $th and 5 play was the cherry.

tOSU Defensive Unsung

Mali- Joey Bosa. First time he’s not had a huge statistical game, only because he occupied the extra blockers and holding penalites for everyone else

Ken – Their secondary. Yes, Cook had 358 yards, but he had to hoist it 45 times to do so. Except for Conley getting lost on 1st MSU TD, they played solid coverage

Joe – I’m with Ken, the secondary did a great job as a whole trying to disrupt the rhythm of the offense.

PJ – Eli Apple for battling injuries

WVa – The rest of the D-line is getting my attention here. Miller and Washington had pretty good games with Miller getting one of the few QB hurries of the game and Washington had one of the TFL’s. Teams cannot take plays off with these two and missing Spence has caused them to not go very deep here. Kudos to both of them for being dangerous

Odds and Ends

WVa – Aussie is the best punter in the country, and amazingly they don’t have to use him very much, but when they do!

tOSU Needs Improvement

Mali- Dontre Wilson’s return game. I’d be fine if he didn’t get the chance on returns again this season… (obviously typed before his injury… Get better, DeSoto)

Ken – return game, damn atrocious

Joe – I tend to agree with the sentiment of our staff that the return game really could use some work.

PJ – Dontre Wilson

WVa – Need to step it up with the return game, it is painfully obvious to everybody. Sadly, it may have taken an injury to Wilson to get it. Hope for a speedy return and best of luck to Marshall here.

Sparty MVP

Cook will play on Sundays for sure. Great under pressure and puts up the numbers

Mali- Connor Cook. Dude can throw the rock and does a great job running his offense

Ken – Jeremy Langford

Joe – Connor Cook is an NFL quarterback in my opinion.

PJ – Jeremy Langford

WVa – Langford is the real deal and seems to be just another bruiser from Sparty that will play on Sundays. He showed a lot of quickness into the holes and that what you have to do against this Buckeye defense this year.

TTUN Not MVP

Mali- Dave Brandon. They’re undefeated since his termination, including their second road win in two years. Proud.

Ken – I don’t really care

Joe – Ummm… David Brandon. Duh. THERE WERE NO DOMINOS SLICES FOR HOKE AFTER THE GAME. THIS IS A MAJOR ISSUE.

PJ – NW qb for falling down

WVa – PJ stole my thunder. I was watching this thinking, ehy the heck is Fitz going for this. His ofense was smoking at that point and OT was his biggest ally. The QB slipping here was disastrous!

tB1G Coach MVP

Kill will probably win the B1G COTY and will probably want to bundle up Saturday

Mali- Jerry Kill. Must be a genius to manage to beat Kirk Ferentz

Ken – Jerry Kill. He can’t dance, but he sure can coach

Joe – Jerry Kill. Love what he’s doing in Minnesota and his love for the game. Plus, anyone that beats Kirk Ferentz is okay in my book.

PJ – Jerry Kill

WVa – Jerry Kill will be the B1G COTY because Urban Meyer is doing what he is suppose to do. Minny wins this Saturday and he will be the National COTY. I doubt that he cries like Glen Mason did tho.

tB1G Defensive MVP

Mali- If it’s not Bosa, then the Randy Gregory at Nebraska is the only other player in the conference that I think coaches scheme around.

Ken – is this necessary?

Joe – This award is a “No Fly Zone” this week

PJ – Frank Clark

WVa – This new category is to help decide the conference over-all awards for the end of season edition. Right now it’s no contest for Joey Bosa, but this past week I saw Frank Clark make a pretty good argument too.

tB1G Offensive MVP

Mali- JT Barrett. Sure, Abdullah and Gordon get the yardage, but it’s different to be a quarterback and have the entire offense go through you.

In what might be the most revealing win of the Urban Meyer Era, the Buckeye’s victory over Michigan State is just a check point in the overall mission for Urban Meyer. Good news and bad news alike was issued at Urban Meyer’s press conference Monday and we are here to dole out a heaping helping […]

In what might be the most revealing win of the Urban Meyer Era, the Buckeye’s victory over Michigan State is just a check point in the overall mission for Urban Meyer. Good news and bad news alike was issued at Urban Meyer’s press conference Monday and we are here to dole out a heaping helping of it to satisfy your hunger for all things Buckeye Football.

Focus

Man on a Mission- Urban Meyer on the MSU “w” : “We accomplished a mission and championship teams recognize that we learn from that mission and look forward to the next mission.” Urban Meyer made it a point throughout the press conference to emphasize the importance of not allowing his team to look at the Minnesota game as anything less than a check point to crush along the road to the ultimate mission.

Done-Tre- Dontre Wilson is one tough nut. He caught a touchdown pass, apparently with a broken foot during Saturday’s victory in East Lansing. Dontre had a rough night before he made up for it with the monster touchdown grab, so we may have to go back and see when the injury may have occurred. Regardless Wilson will miss significant time, possibly a season ending injury. Noah Brown may get to see some playing time because of Wilson’s injury according to coach Meyer.

Wildcat-I don’t know if anyone else was as surprised as I was to see the Wildcat formation that the Buckeye’s executed in Saturday’s game against the Spartans. Jalin Marshall was impressive taking the snaps but this is not unfamiliar territory for Marshall. Meyer mentioned that not only is he comfortable in the Wildcat but that Jalin was a high school quarterback and was the best player on his team. Meyer mentioned that they are always looking to recruit multipurpose athletes at the tailback and tight end positions.

Hardware-After an impressive display of poise and focus in the victory over the Spartans, J.T. Barrett brought home some well deserved hardware this week. J.T. was named Athalon’s National Player of the week, B1G Offensive player of the week and B1G freshman of the week.

Kudos

Marked Improvement- When asked about J.T. Barrett’s progress in comparison to what Urban Meyer has coached before in his past, he threw Alex Smith’s name into the ring and said J.T. can compare to Alex’s improvements and that J.T. has “handled his business like Alex did”

Shrugs-If Joey Bosa’s shrug was missing from Saturday’s victory against the Spartans, his team mates made sure they were a ubiquitous portion of the celebration. Everyone from Ezekiel Elliott to our very own Brutus Buckeye threw up a shrug for the Big Bear Bosa. Much of the evening he was occupied by two lineman or a lineman and a tailback and did not have his best game statistically. Meyer mentioned that he (Bosa) was visibly frustrated but that the Offensive scheme for MSU was smart to double team Bosa and respect his talent.

A Veritable Feast Of Talent- When asked about having a tough choice to make next year for the quarterback position Coach Meyer nearly gave a Bosa shrug, “Competition brings out the best, We’re excited to have two great quarterbacks next year.”

Conspiracy Theory- The Ohio State Buckeye’s are ramping up THE game November 29th. The official start time of the game has not been announced however…on the Ohio State website www.beatmichigan.com there was a countdown clock for the game that would have the game starting at 8:00 pm on November 29th. On the events tab of the same site it had the OSU-Michigan event time as 8:00-11:00 pm. Could it be?! Could we truly be bucking tradition this hard? I tend to be a traditionalist but I wouldn’t mind this game being on an even bigger stage, would you?

It was just a glorified practice so to speak getting ready for the big one this coming Saturday in East Lansing. The guys chime in with their thoughts on who was the best this week. They come close to your choices? Offensive tOSU Offensive MVP MDOTYSR – Curtis Samuel really played a nice game. KEN […]

It was just a glorified practice so to speak getting ready for the big one this coming Saturday in East Lansing. The guys chime in with their thoughts on who was the best this week. They come close to your choices?

Offensive

Great second half in good situations

tOSU Offensive MVP

MDOTYSR – Curtis Samuel really played a nice game.

KEN – Ezekiel Elliott

MALI – Jalin Marshall

PATRICK – Devin Smith. Finally showed up. They’ll need him to stretch the field this week.

WVA – I am going with Cardale Jones here, I am pretty sure he and the staff weren’t ready for him to go in against Penn State, and Coach Meyer even admitted the only time he’s ever gotten in a game was in mop up, get the game over with. He started the second half and was more efficient than the entire Illinois offense. Plus, he had the best hit of the day and another hurdle!

tOSU O-line MVP

MDOTYSR – All Five Big Ugly’s.

KEN – Darryl Baldwin

MALI – Darryl Baldwin

PATRICK – Line as a whole.

WVA – Finally, other people are recognizing what Darryl Baldwin is meaning to this offensive line. We are seeing him out in space a lot more and he is a solid blocker on the move. I wouldn’t be going out on a limb by saying he is the best on that line right now.

WVA – I am definitely going with Barrett to Smith the first chapter. Smith had his guy beat when JT realized it but the defender made a pretty good play on getting back to him. Perfect throw over the shoulder and a sweet catch to boot.

tOSU Offensive Unsung

MDOTYSR- Cardale Jones hands down!

KEN – Cardale Jones. Our 3rd teamer can flat out play

MALI – Curtis Samuel

PATRICK – Elliott’s blocking once again.

WVA – Boundary blocking which includes Ezekiel, Heuerman and Vannett. Crazy what these three have been up to if you take the time to actually watch what they do in the blocking realm and do not get a lot of publicity for it!

Defensive

Ooh! Whats this? Nice hands young man!

tOSU Defensive MVP

MDOTYSR – Darron Lee, this young man has NFL written all over his resume.

KEN – Joey Bosa. No, seriously.

MALI – Darron Lee

PATRICK – Darron Lee.

WVA – Darron Lee made it a no brainer this week and he is really stepping up his game. Almost all second level blocking is aimed at him and teams are failing miserably at doing so.

tOSU D-line MVP

MDOTYSR – Joey Bosa, though I was impressed with Steve Miller (cue the Joker music)!

KEN – Steve Miler, flew like an eagle on Saturday

MALI – Bosa being Bosa

PATRICK – Joey Bosa

WVA – Bosa, Bosa, Bosa. Why do I even ask this question each week? It is absolutely crazy at what level he is playing. MSU had better have a plan to block him man up and then run the other way. I am sure they see the same thing everybody else does, two on him is a waste of time.

WVA – I know there’s a sentiment growing that Doran Grant isn’t that popular. All you have to do is watch where teams throw the football and you’ll notice they are avoiding him. The reason is that when they watch video and gameplan, they know that’s not the direction you want to go. He is always in a good position in coverage to make a play.

Odds and Ends, Them and TTUN

Super snapper!

tOSU Special Teams MVP

MDOTYSR – Sean Nuernberger and well deserved.

KEN – Bryce Haynes/Cam Johnston/Sean Nuernberger: lots of snaps, holds and kicks, they all went well

MALI – Bryce Haynes. Perfect snaps, and excellent coverage

PATRICK – Nuernberger just for making his kicks.

WVA – Jumping on the long snapper band wagon here. Snaps the ball and is one of the first on coverage and usually is taking a pretty good shot running up the middle of the field.

tOSU Needs Improvement

MDOTYSR – Staying with the Offensive Line and the Buckeyes will need it come Saturday.

KEN – not much

MALI – JT’s confidence/accuracy early. Going to be a problem against Sparty.

PATRICK – Dontre Wilson.

WVA – play calling was easy this past weekend but needs to be diverse this week.

Monheim hit first and often

Illinois MVP

MDOTYSR – Mason Monheim

KEN – Ohioan Mason Monheim: 11 tackles, 1 TFL. 1 forced fumble

MALI – Mason Monheim

PATRICK – ummm, abstain

WVA – Mason Monheim had a pretty good game considering the Ohio State offense did almost anything it wanted. Early on he was disrupting and making plays, props to the Ohio kid.

TTUN Not MVP

MDOTYSR – The Admistration!

KEN – no one comes to mind

MALI – Dave Brandon

PATRICK – the 103k that showed up.

WVA – What are they thinking? Fire Hoke now and give Mattison a chance to salvage a season. Bet your bottom dollar he would have them ready for the rivalry game.

tB1G Coach MVP

MDOTYSR – Urban Meyer for hanging 50!

KEN – Brady Hoke; his win assures he’ll be on the field Nov 29th

MALI – Randy Edsall. Looking for a rival and found one

PATRICK – Bo Pelini. Got a win w out his top player

WVA – Definitely going with Randy Edsall here. I have liked his style for a long time. I am not sure that not shaking hands was the best way to get there, but it definitely ensures good rivalry games in the future for them

Back from the cruise, done with another birthday: Let’s Get Sparty! Laser Focused-Head Coach Urban Meyer held his weekly press conference Monday afternoon and exuded a new level of no nonsense, laser focused attitude. Coach Meyer had no problem in claiming that a win over Michigan State would be a “signature win” and would restore […]

Laser Focused-Head Coach Urban Meyer held his weekly press conference Monday afternoon and exuded a new level of no nonsense, laser focused attitude. Coach Meyer had no problem in claiming that a win over Michigan State would be a “signature win” and would restore the respect that Ohio State has garnered in the past, not just in the B1G but across the country.

Honestly-Daron Lee was vocal during the press conference as well about his feelings towards Saturday’s matchup against Sparty. “We know what this week’s about, and it’s ON honestly.” “I feel like they stole something from us, that’s how I felt just watching it, I wanted a piece of them last year honestly.”

10 year war-Urban Meyer minced no words about the question of the rivalry with Michigan State and Ohio State. “I grew up during the 10 year war, clearly understanding the pageantry. Calling this a rivalry game would diminish the rivalry that’s been around for 100 years”

King of the Hill-Coach Meyer knows Michigan State poses a threat and a challenge even without the rivalry tag. “They are the king of the hill right now” “They are in the way of what we want, which is a B1G championship”

The Power of the Unknown-when asked about the task of preparing for something Jt Barrett and the offense might not face, “We have to be ready for adjustments but they (Michigan State) are too strong right now they way they are.”

Number One Gunner- Coach Meyer claimed that Devin Smith was the number one Gunner in America right now and the best down field threat they have.

Hammer Time-When comparing notes to last years game against the Spartans Coach Meyer mentioned that good players and good scheme is what brought the Buckeyes down last year. “It’s a sledgehammer game, MSU can play at any level, in any conference, against any team right now, but we think The Ohio State Buckeyes can too.”

Tight Odds And Ends-Heuerman is fine and full go after leaving the game a bit early, Marcus Baugh has made great strides according to Tim Hinton

Fabulous Mr. Lippet- The Michigan State weapon will see the ball thrown to him no matter the coverage, especially in third down, according to Coach Fickell.

Armani? Didn’t play against Illinois, and is questionable for the MSU game.

To Be The Man, You Gotta’ Beat The Man- That’s Taylor Decker’s attitude in facing off against MSU’s Shilique Calhoun this week. No one compares, not even Buckeye Joey Bosa, according to Decker, who’s been looking forward to the challenge.

Nothing Fancy- While there might be wrinkles, expect Michigan State to try to beat you with execution and not scheme. They are who they are.

I tried my best this week to get the guys to talk about somebody other than Joey Bosa and JT Barrett to no avail. Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do! Offensive - tOSU Offensive MVP- MALI – Evan Spencer. Who am I to argue with the coaches? JOE – J.T. Barrett is making it […]

I tried my best this week to get the guys to talk about somebody other than Joey Bosa and JT Barrett to no avail. Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do!

Offensive -

Urban Meyer and JT Barrett

tOSU Offensive MVP-

MALI – Evan Spencer. Who am I to argue with the coaches?

JOE – J.T. Barrett is making it hard to argue now that he shouldn’t be talked about when the Heisman race is mentioned. He led the Buckeyes in rushing yards, found 9 different receivers and looked cooler than the other side of the pillow in the pocket.

KEN – JT Barrett

PATRICK – Ezekiel Elliott. No offense to JT, but does anyone see or understand what this young man does WITHOUT the ball!?!? His blocking is unreal and it was his blocks that sprung JT a couple of times. Not to mention his rushing and catching the ball out of the backfield.

SCOTT – J.T. Barrett. Heisman candidate. B1G offensive player of the year candidate. And he hasn’t been accused of rape.

MDOTYSR – Eze Elliott was a hard running and blocked his tail off!

WVA – AGREE WITH PATRICK AND SENIOR

tOSU O-line MVP-

MALI – Total group!

JOE – Still giving this award to the whole line. They all looked strong during the run game and gave Barrett some time to throw

KEN – All of them. No sacks against the B1G’s top sacking team. Impressive

PATRICK – once again I’m awarding the whole line. This unit has banded together and grown week by week

SCOTT – Still saying the whole line

MDOTYSR – The whole line play deserves this one!

WVA – AGREE WITH EVERYBODY

That’ll do

tOSU Offensive Top Play-

MALI – JT going to his 5th or 6th read, swinging the pass out to EzE for a gain rather than taking a sack

JOE – J.T. Barrett’s run out of the shotgun. He saw the field open up in front of him and scampered in for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Odds and Ends, Them and TTUN

JOE – Cameron Johnston only had one punt but it was 53 yards and inside the 20 #winning #TresselProud

KEN – Cam Johnston. Only one play but his punt set up a game-changing defensive play

PATRICK – Jalin Marshall. Nice to finally see a punt returner catch and turn up field instead of dancing around.

SCOTT – abstain.

MDOTYSR – Jalin Marshall

WVA – I AGREE WITH MALI, PATRICK AND SENIOR

tOSU Newcomer-

MALI – Happy Raekwonza, Everybody!

JOE – Curtis Samuel redeemed himself in the time he saw on the field. He averaged 15 yards per carry the four times he touched it.

KEN – Jalin Marshall

PATRICK – Kwon again. Keeps making plays the more he’s in there

SCOTT – Raekwon. See above.

MDOTYSR – Kwon, not even close.

WVA – TOTALLY AGREE WITH THE MAJORITY HERE, RAEKWONZA IT IS

Time To Shine

tOSU More Playing Time-

MALI – Jalin Marshall… Get him the damn ball

JOE – I’ll go with Samuel here too. I’d love to build a two headed monster in the backfield to go with the speed on the outside. To have both ready for Michigan State would be huge

KEN – Jalin Marshall

PATRICK – Dante Booker. Time to see the young Bucks get in there and make some plays

SCOTT – Jalin Marshall. He’s muh boyeeeeeee

MDOTYSR – Jalyn Holmes.

WVA – I AGREE WITH PATRICK

tOSU Overhyped-

MALI – No comment

JOE – The secondary gave up 196 yards of offense in the air, but at points were still out of position and unable to make plays. To say overhyped is one thing, but still the corners will need to grow with some big boys still on the schedule.

KEN – NONE

PATRICK – Dontre Wilson. Will be my answer for 2 more years.

SCOTT – Nobody right now.

MDOTYSR – How dare you….No One!

WVA – I AGREE WITH SENIOR

Rutgers MVP-

MALI – Peoples continued to run hard… so that’s a thing.

JOE – Their quarterback Gary Nova is a gamer

KEN – RB Desmon Peoples; he ran hard and was very productive. A true playmaker

PATRICK – Leonte Caroo. Got behind people and made plays. But let’s be honest, who hasn’t got behind this secondary and made plays

SCOTT – Gary “Villa” Nova.

MDOTYSR – RB Peoples looks like a real player!

WVA – AGREE WITH SCOTT BECAUSE OF HOW HE AID IT!

TTUN Not MVP-

MALI – Jim Harbaugh. Just go with it.

JOE – I hear Devin Gardner couldn’t even read the defenses that the lowly Idle week put up against him.

KEN – whoever schedlued the off week

PATRICK – the Golden Corral buffet. With scUM being off I’m sure that thing took a beating by Brady.

The Buckeyes welcome the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to the friendly confines of Ohio Stadium for the first time as a Big Ten Team. The welcoming was none too friendly, however, as the Buckeyes controlled the game from start to finish on the way to a 56-17 victory. JT Barrett had another excellent day throwing the […]

The Buckeyes welcome the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to the friendly confines of Ohio Stadium for the first time as a Big Ten Team. The welcoming was none too friendly, however, as the Buckeyes controlled the game from start to finish on the way to a 56-17 victory. JT Barrett had another excellent day throwing the football, completing 19/31 passes for 261 yards and 3 touchdowns. He added another 107 yards and 2 touchdowns on 7 carries on the ground. Gary Nova put together a 17/28 completion percentage for 192 yards.

For the Buckeyes, Ezekiel Elliott carried the ball 12 times for 69 yards and a touchdown. Rod Smith was the only other Buckeye to score on the ground with 4 carries for 21 yards and a score. In the receiving corps, Jalin Marshall and Michael Thomas had solid games netting 58 and 55 yards respectively, while Nick Vannett scored a pair of touchdowns early in the game. For the Knights Desmon Peoples carried for 83 yards and two touchdowns on the day, clearly their most effective offensive player. Leonte Carroo led all receivers on the day with 5 receptions for 100 yards even.

The Scarlet Knights started the game with the ball, but found absolutely no traction at all with their otherwise solid offense. They netted a total of a lost yard before they were forced to punt to the Buckeyes. OSU attacked quickly, much like against Maryland two weeks ago, utilizing a mix of passes and Ezekiel Elliott runs to move the ball swiftly down the field. JT Barrett was forced to convert a 4th and 1, which he did with ease on a 19 yard scramble. Not long after, he tossed a pass to Nick Vannett for the 12 yard touchdown.

Rutgers found more success on their following drive, collecting 25 yards on a variety of plays, but the majority came from a 17 yard pass on the sideline to Andrew Turzilli. After the punt, the Buckeyes again went to work, putting together a competent 74 yard drive in 8 plays capped by a 1 yard rush from Ezekiel Elliott for the score. The series displayed 6 straight runs, including several by JT Barrett.

Things finally started to fall in favor of the Scarlet Knights on their third drive. Gary Nova completed a couple nice passes to keep the drive moving, but the balance of the drive was carried on the shoulders of running back Desmon Peoples, who carried for 32 net yards on the way to his first score of the game.

Ohio State responded in much the same way they had all game, with a systematic, competent drive all the way down the field. Balanced by the running of Elliott and Dontre Wilson, JT Barrett led the Buckeyes down the field. From 26 yards out, Barrett hit Vannett for his second touchdown of the game. This meant that the Buckeyes scored on every single opportunity touching the football in the first quarter of the game.

Things didn’t go particularly well for either team to start the second quarter. Rutgers only gained 13 yards on 5 plays before having to punt. That was followed by the Buckeyes losing 5 yards on their first three and out for the game. On their first play from scrimmage on the following drive, Gary Nova threw a pass complete to Janarion Grant who got killed by Rashad Frazier. On the hit, Frazier forced the ball out which was scooped up by Eli Apple on the Rutgers 4 yardline and punched into the endzone. Things didn’t go too much better on their following drive as they lost 11 yards on 3 plays before being forced to punt.

The Buckeyes got the ball with 8 minutes to go in the second quarter on their own 49 yard line. Recognizing that the game was quickly getting out of hand, OSU chose to slow the game down and take as much time as possible to shorten the game. They succeeded in burning 4 minutes off the clock in 8 plays driving the 51 yards down the field. The drive ended with a 3 yard Rod Smith run up the gut for a touchdown.

Rutgers went to work knowing that they needed to make something happen before the half or they would be down for the count. Gary Nova engineered an excellent 83 yard 14 play drive to put the Scarlet Knights in perfect scoring position. On 3rd and 4 from the 6 yard line with seconds left in the half Gary Nova tried to hit a receiver in the corner of the endzone. Doran Grant jumped the route and picked off the pass to end the scoring threat. JT Barrett took a knee on the following play to end the half with the Buckeyes holding a 28 point advantage.

Wowzers

Surprisingly, the Buckeyes kept the starters in for the majority of the third quarter despite having a commanding lead on the game. The Buckeyes continued to keep their foot on the gas, scoring another 21 points in the third quarter while only giving up a field goal to the Knights. That would end the scoring for the Buckeyes, but by this point the game was in the bag. OSU substituted liberally in the fourth quarter, and ended up giving up a touchdown in the first play from scrimmage in the quarter, but it was far too little too late for the Scarlet Knights.

The Buckeyes will next play the Penn State Nitany Lions in Happy Valley on Saturday, October 25th. You’ll be able to see that game at 8:00 PM on ABC/ESPN.

The bye weeks are over, we have Buckeye football every Saturday from now until Thanksgiving and hopefully into the first week of December culminating in Indianapolis battling it out in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Buckeyes welcome Rutgers to town this weekend for a first ever meeting with the Scarlet Knights as they embark […]

The bye weeks are over, we have Buckeye football every Saturday from now until Thanksgiving and hopefully into the first week of December culminating in Indianapolis battling it out in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Buckeyes welcome Rutgers to town this weekend for a first ever meeting with the Scarlet Knights as they embark on their first season in the Big Ten. At 5-1, Rutgers could very well pose the toughest challenge the Buckeyes have seen this season.

We discussed last week the progress that JT Barrett has made and the potential that we all thought and now know he possesses. If Barrett and the offense are to keep chugging along, more than one young player will have to step out of the shadows and display the talent that brought him to Ohio State. The same can be said on the defensive side of the ball.

Michael Bennett

Bosa Monster

Each week we have a sighting of a “Bosa Monster” ie sophomore defensive end Joey Bosa making life miserable for the oppositions quarterback. I’m sure you’re not shocked to hear this, but that’s not all he does. Bosa does a fantastic job of squeezing the off tackle run down inside as well as keeping contain on the edge and not allowing run plays to get outside of him without at least occupying an armada of blockers.

Bosa has made a name for himself and the word is out that the young kid from Florida can flat out play. Offenses will scheme to avoid him or design plays to attempt to get him out of position and into a bad spot. That said, it’s not Bosa that I’m worried about. He’ll more than hold his own.

Inside and the other end

Michael Bennett may be the best defensive tackle in America. Yes, I said it. And finally the coaching staff has decided to “experiment” with leaving him on the field in pass rush situations on third downs.

Adolphus Washington is “Mini-Mike” playing next to Bennett and deserves a lot of credit for the success the Ohio State defensive line has had thus far in 2014. It’s the other end opposite of Bosa where someone needs to emerge.

I’d like to see Jayln Holmes (10) take advantage if given an opportunity

The absence of All-Big Ten defensive end Noah Spence is going to be felt over the final 7 game stretch. But it doesn’t have to be a liability or even a weakness.

So far Rashad Frazier and Steve Miller have done an adequate job of filling the space left by Spence. Let’s be honest, nobody is going to replace Spence’s talent, but these two have done a solid job of not letting it become the aforementioned liability it could be perceived as.

Can Miller and Frazier step up their game to the next level? What about freshman Jalyn Holmes, who has seen playing time in spots? Can Holmes come in and seemingly out of nowhere make a splash and be the “Jadeveon Clowney” to Bosa’s “JJ Watt”?

Who is going to take their game to the next level? Someone has to for the defensive line to continue being successful.

Co-Defensive Coordinator Luke Fickell “This is not a one-man game. That’s the greatest thing about football. You can’t do it with one, you can’t do it with two. It’s not like basketball, or any other sport. It’s like real life. You can’t do it by yourself, and we need everybody.“

Linebackers and secondary

If there is one unit on the entire team that I feel has done a complete 180 degree turn from last season it is the play of the linebacker unit. Josh Perry, Darron Lee and Curtis Grant have been all over the field showcasing their athletic ability. The emergence of freshman Raekwon McMillan on the inside is a sight to behold. The kid just gets to the football.

While this unit has been good, it can always be better. And I think that it will. These kids are too talented and have just the right mix of youth and experience to suddenly hit a wall and not continue to progress. (Note: McMillan is a true freshman, Lee is a redshirt freshman, Perry is a junior and Grant is a senior)

Raekwin McMillan (5) and Luke Fickell

And speaking of youth and keeping with the whole “break out” theme, when is Trey Johnson going to make his presence felt? Johnson, if you’ll recall, was one of the two five-star freshman linebackers (Mike Mitchell, who transferred to be closer to his ailing father at his home in Texas, is the other) who were being looked at as potentially being in the mix last season and certainly for this year.

Keep an eye out for Sam Hubbard, a true freshman from Cincinnati. Urban Meyer mentions him quite a bit in his weekly call-in show and pressers. Meyer also made mention, something to the affect, of maybe playing younger guys now as being what the team needs. A sort of taking off of the training wheels and letting some guys get out there and do what they do. Hubbard (and Jalyn Holmes) fits this profile perfectly.

No fly zone?

I’m not as down on the Ohio State secondary as most. I love the talent that Eli Apple has shown and Doran Grant is All-Big Ten on the opposite side. Tyvis Powell and Vonn Bell have been solid at safety barring a few mishaps.

Mix in Cam Burrows, Gareon Conley and Armani Reeves and you have a pretty talented secondary. But I think we already knew they were talented.

These guys aren’t going to be the next “No Fly Zone” or “Legion of Boom” in the back end of the defense. But if the Ohio State football team is going to go where it wants to and sees itself going in 2014, they will be the biggest reason why it does or does not happen.

Doran Grant (12) at Purdue last season

A secondary that is contesting throws and not allowing an abundance of big plays is what will get it done. When you get hat working in concert with the defensive line applying pressure/stuffing the run and linebackers who fly all over the field you have the makings of a potentially great defense. As with every other position on the field, some names we’ve heard but talents we haven’t seen will have to step out and make their presence felt.

Schedule

Three tests remain before the Buckeyes board the plane for East Lansing and their showdown with Michigan State on November 8th. The way it all lays out is perfect in that there is too much surrounding each game, whether it be a prime time start or walking into a scene from The Walking Dead in Happy Valley, to allow for a letdown or looking ahead. The situations all demand focus and attention while having appeal that college athletes love.

If you have to have a second bye week, playing homecoming against a first time opponent at 3:30 isn’t a bad way to get things back into gear. Rutgers will present their challenges, namely a quarterback that is a gunslinger called Gary Nova. The Scarlet Knights come to Ohio Stadium on Saturday and are early 19.5 point underdogs. Don’t be fooled, this isn’t Maryland. Or is it…

I feel the same way, buddy. You stink.

The following week the Buckeyes take to the road for the first of three straight night games beginning in Happy Valley against Penn State. The vitriol from the stands will keep the Buckeyes sharp and should provide sufficient motivation. There will be no looking ahead or losing focus that night.

As the road to East Lansing makes its final stop, this is where it could get tricky. The Buckeyes host Illinois on November 1st before the much anticipated rematch. If this were a noon kickoff on the Big Ten Network I would say that all radar needs to be on high upset alert. It’s an easy opponent and time to get caught looking ahead to the following week and end up in a dog fight. And once you open the door and give a team hope, anything can happen. But, those parameters will not be in place. Instead the Illinois home tilt will be an 8 o’clock start and broadcast nationally on ESPN or ABC.

The Buckeyes will take it one week at a time. The schedule dictates they must. While they’ll be favorites in all three contests, expect some battles. And to be honest, that may be good for them.

Quick hitters

How bout them Browns?! You can guarantee that yours truly was hooting and hollering on Sunday when the orange and brown put a beating on the black and gold and sent Pittsburgh’s Steelers back to their sewage smelling city. Brian Hoyer looks like the real deal and the defense came together and put on its best performance in the 31-10 route. The next three games see the Browns traveling to Jacksonville and then hosting Oakland and Tampa Bay. Win those three (or even 2 of those 3) and it sets up a huge showdown in Cincinnati against the Bengals on Thursday Night Football, November 6th.

Despite his best efforts, and a lot of crying, former Buckeye Cam Heyward couldn’t stop Brian Hoyer and the Browns

Speaking of that potentially big AFC North night clash, what a huge football weekend it will be in Ohio if it comes to fruition as we’ll have the Browns and Bengals battling each other on national television on Thursday night and two days later the Buckeyes and Spartans will get it on in the rematch everyone in the Big Ten and country is waiting to see.

The Columbus Blue Jackets opened the regular season with a 3-1 win on the road at Buffalo last Thursday before cranking the defending Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers 5-2 at Nationwide Arena on Saturday night.

The Jackets are a MASH unit right now with Brandon Dubinsky, Boone Jenner, Ryan Murray and Nathan Horton all out the lineup. Murray is due back any time, Jenner is still likely out 3-4 more weeks. Meanwhile Dubinsky will miss up to 6 weeks and there is no timetable (scary thought) on Horton’s return.

Sergei bobrovsky (72) and Nick Foligno (R) look for “more hugs” as they hope to continue their winning ways

Thus far rookies Marko Dano and Alex Wennburg have been terrific along with the remaining cast spearheaded by the likes of the newly re-signed Ryan Johansen, Artem Anisimov, Nick Foligno, Cam Atkinson and of course Sergei Bobrovsky. They’re starting hot and only stand to get better as the injured players return. Being at full strength (minus Horton) heading into January is going to make the CBJ an absolute nightmare for the Metropolitan Division.

Wrap it up

If you’re headed to the game Saturday, of course be loud. Welcome Rutgers to our house and let’s hope the guys on the field make them fully aware this is our league. Until next week, Go Bucks!

Metallica track of the week

Let’s crank it back up! How about we go back to 2012’s Orion Music and More Festival night 2 and see crush Shortest Straw!

Annnnnd, if you’re interested, here is the Columbus Blue Jackets in arena intro video for 2014/15!

In all my years of writing this article (actually only two now) I have never had to try to avoid writing about specific people as much as I am this week. When you are doing ones like this it is very easy to write about the obvious and that would be either JT Barrett, Ezekiel Elliott, […]

In all my years of writing this article (actually only two now) I have never had to try to avoid writing about specific people as much as I am this week. When you are doing ones like this it is very easy to write about the obvious and that would be either JT Barrett, Ezekiel Elliott, the secondary and of course TTUN.

The beauty of watching the games every weekend is that you do not have to look very far to find the next good, the bad and the ugly. Let’s get rolling with the very good!

Rumblin’

The new road grader at RT has been allowing a lot of this to happen . . , good stuff

As I stated, it would be really easy to just write about the two-headed(nine really) monster in JT and EZE, but not this week. In watching the game, someone jumped out at me and then in our discussions this week here it dawned on me that when I was choosing my tOSU Offensive Unsung in my awards article, Darryl Baldwin has really stood out.

It only seems like Baldwin has been here forever, although the fifth year senior has already graduated (May) and is earning his masters at this moment. He is a three-time OSU Scholar-Athlete and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten Conference honoree and is sure to reach a fourth after this season. That’s a great part of his story but not the best part, atleast from my perspective.

Ed Warriner saw something in Baldwin when first coming to OSU that he knew he wanted him on the o-line and the battle with coach Vrabel and Fickle was on. Warriner won the battle and has appeared to be winning the war in this case because I think after Saturday, DB has put himself in a position to be the best on this version of Warriners five nasties.

He has done a pretty good job of protecting JT’s frontside and I wish I knew what the sack stat was that he has given up because I doubt it’s many through five games. I have been impressed with his progress and with being able to step in at RT and take charge this season. Young man has put in some work and definitely needed some mention.

Stumblin’

Had one of the INT’s but sometimes people only remember the plays he got beat on

It’s truly hard to pick someone out as stumbling along when the team is taking care of business against an outmanned team, but I did some searching to see what Buckeye Nation was feeling. I get the sense that a lot of people aren’t completely sold on Doran Grant just yet.

Some plays will always stand out in peoples mind’s and when you get beat in one game badly, it can almost be assumed it will happen again. It’s true he has stumbled in games, but it’s also true that he has been drawing a lot of man to man against the other teams best or second best. The past couple of games, that person has been ridiculously at their best and there was marked improvement this past week.

Doran Grant is an athlete that can adjust to whatever type of coverage the Buckeyes are in and most of the time he will be in a a call that might lead him to believe that he has help. He is a smart football player and people need to also realize that the talent he is against is the other teams best. An All-B1G honorable mention last year, Grant is sure to move into second or maybe even first team territory with his level of play on his own little island.

Bumblin’

Week in and week out this season it appears that TTUN is going to make it pretty easy to talk about them here. They definitely fit the bill for the ugly! I however am going to throw guys who are part of my brotherhood and avocation under the short bus.

Officiating at the college football level has almost become a joke in the aspect of instant replay. I know some D1 officials and have heard the phrase “don’t go fishing in my pond” from more than one of them. In high school we are more concerned with getting the call right, so it’s acceptable if someone throws a flag in your area, as long as you have one too. There are those rare occasions where the covering official just didn’t see the foul.

At the college level, it is definitely about assigned areas and responsibilities when it comes to making calls, and there are those rare occasions where the backside official could have a responsibility to cover an area a long way away when the others attention is elsewhere.

For example, any of the deep officials can have responsibilities right on top of a play that has taken the wings and the umpire out of the mix, you do see that a lot. However, in the case of TTUN’s incomplete pass, there was no need for the down-field or deep official to come in and overrule the covering official. It just makes all of them look bad and is the primary reason for the hard and fast of taking care of your own area when you are the primary.

The covering official had the best look and called it what it was, a complete pass. He signals to stop the clock and confirms that the player caught it, made an athletic move(two steps in bounds on purpous) and then went to the ground where the ball laid, not moving. Thus if instant replay gets its hands on this, I dounbt they reverse the call. But because the other official visually overruled the wing, that’s the call that needs to be reversed and those officials blew it.

The problem with instant replay is that some officials, and not the covering official on that play, officiate in a way that they know if the screw up, instant replay will fix it. So if you know you have a back-up maybe you won’t work as well as you did when you didn’t have it. I don’t like what it’s done to college football and maybe should be changed slightly so that the covering officials have a say in the result. They have the best ‘live” look without slowing it down.